Those with disabilities can often teach those of us without physical impairments lessons about slowing down and not taking life for granted. This thought occurred to me as I was shopping at my local grocery store a couple of days ago. A team leader from a local disabilities charity was bringing a group of disabled adults through the store. Five adults with impairments pushed their carts quietly as they carefully checked their shopping lists.

Recently I received news from my tree-climbing daughter that a friend, whom I had watched climb on Sunday in the International Society of Arborists (ISA) international competition in St Louis, had fal

The Cubs didn't install lights at Wrigley Field until 1988, but they were on the cutting edge of baseball technology tonight, as the instant replay made its Major League debut at the Friendly Confines.

And baseball may never be the same.

Ah, Lincoln Park. Home of frat daddies and beachcombers. Diversity! 

As I strapped on my stalker camera I thought to myself, of all the glorious Chicago neighborhoods, what better place to spot sexy shoppers and post beach hotties working it in the summer's breeziest trend?

Barack Obama signs an autograph at the 2005 White Sox Championship rally downtown. (Flickr - Therese Flanagan)

I have heard the sound of God laughing. It is the sound of my child jerking awake just as he is about to fall asleep. It is the Moro reflex.

Recently I was at Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions with Johnnie Lee Savory. As we walked down one of its hallways, Johnnie stopped to show me a picture.

It's the age-old Cubs fan question that is too often rhetorical by this point in the baseball season: What if this year really is The Year?

flowers by the river2 by CGAphoto

Jennifer Slosar of The Chi-Town Daily News wrote a great story today about the Ecology of the River canoe trip offered by Friends of the Chicago River.

Warning: This is a rant.

This morning's survey of Chicago River news was fun...

Over the last couple of days, I have been recording and editing video of Johnnie Lee Savory for this blog.

It's hard to believe that after three years living in the Chicago-area, last night was my first time at Ravinia. I ventured up the Northshore for the much-anticipated band - not BSB, that's this weekend - but UB40. Who's that, right? Well they sing that song "Red, Red Wine". But turns out they didn't even write it. Neil Diamond did.

So you missed Lollapalooza and Pitchfork this summer? No need to fret. Many of the artists that played Chicago’s two big music fests are already plotting a return this fall. And this time around you won’t have to worry about getting sunburned, maneuvering between multiple stages or holding your breath in that nasty porta-potty.

I can't forgive Cubs fans for being surprised.  After spending
most of his career as a crappy starter (he only posted an ERA below
4.00 once in seven years) and a so-so one as a reliever (his best
season coming in 2005 when the Cubs weren't in position to do anything), ole Red Beard
made the improbable switch back to being a starter before the season
and has become our most dependable starting pitcher.  He's been the

In Johnnie Lee Savory’s words, Steve Drizin is the man who brought him home.

The Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law, Steve represented Johnnie at his parole hearing and helped win his release after spending 30 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

I was dressed like a clown, traveling through a cavalcade of sugar skulls, monster movie posters, tiny calaveras and replica human skulls, one of which I had been assured wasn't a replica.

The walls were painted the color of blood, as was a good portion of my forehead. A bone-white cat sauntered by, pausing only to glance at me pityingly as I trod through the skeletal gauntlet toward the bonfire.

Welcome to the first post of Justice for Savory.  In the coming weeks, I’ll be blogging about Johnnie Lee Savory, a man who spent 30 years in the Illinois penal system for a crime he did not commit.  In future posts, I’ll dissect the facts of his case, interview the many people and groups who have helped him, as well as invite readers to get to know Johnnie the human being.    

As I wrote in my story today, it would be really bad if asian carp got into the Great Lakes. They're an invasive species that feeds on plankton, the tiny stuff at the very bottom of the food chain, threatening native fish populations.

They're also a threat to a non-native lake dweller: the jet-skier.

A waiting-to-be-demolished home in Bensenville, Ill. Photo by John Crouch.

Olympic fever is leading suburban communities known for squabbling with
the city to set aside hostilities and declare their support for the
2016 bid. More than half of the 273 municipalities surrounding Chicago,
147 so far, have passed resolutions in support of Chicago's 2016
Olympic bid, according to the Metropolitan Mayor's Caucus.

I was a little bit surprised when I walked through the rain--so long freshly straightened hair--a few blocks from the Merch Mart and into the welcoming arms of Swirl Wine Bar.

I was expecting--well, I'm not sure what I was expecting. Most of the wine bars I've been to have a very obvious theme. D.O.C. is lush and richly colored with a speakeasy kind of vibe. Bin 36--clean, minimalist, all about the wine.

As I wrote in my story today, cleaning up the river after last Monday's monster thunderstorms was a serious task.  The Department of Streets and Sanitation pulled over 21,000 pounds of debris from the river in the three days following the storm, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District barely recovered from massive equipment failures in their efforts that night.

Both groups had boats on the river last week, cleaning up debris at Wolf Point, where the North and South Branches of the river meet.  It's a focal point of cleanup work because debris swept into the river tends to collect at the confluence.

These videos of the boats were shot last Wednesday morning, the second day after the storm.

Workers aboard the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's pontoon boat scoop flotsam from the Chicago River at Wolf Point.



The Department of Streets and Sanitation's new boat, DSS Two, oxegenates the water while it eats up debris.

Let's start this post off by establishing that gladiator-inspired sandals, or gladiandals if you will, are EXTREMELY difficult to pull off. Few people wear them with confidence and even fewer get the look right.

Bensenville's lawyers managed to wrangle a 30-day delay out of the same judge who last week granted th City of Chicago permission to demolish more than 500 homes and businesses in the village according to WGN:

Midweek Happy Hour doesn't have to mean overpriced martinis or cheap, watered-down beer. Drink your antioxidants, and this week, drag your co-workers to the local wine bar.

Here are some ideas to tempt your palate:

Tuesday (8/12)

So I'm in San Jose, Calif. for a few days for work, staying at The Fairmont, which is a nice hotel. This morning I had to use their lobby restroom and noticed this picture attached to the handicapped stall:

I'll admit it - I really enjoyed the "cool" weather this weekend. I love being warm so I don't mind wearing a light, long-sleeved shirt and ankle-length capris on an August afternoon in Chicago. But as the weather tempered, it made me realize that summer is all too quickly passing by.

Here are three activities you can simply take outdoors to make the most out of these last glorious weeks of summer.

Because we all drive, walk down the street, ride the CTA and use cell phones, here is a list of common personas you should avoid when using your favorite gadget. While some of these may annoy the people around you, there are others that simply make you look like an idiot. You know who you are, so STOP IT!

My husband and I toured Napa for our honeymoon, and we try to do little mini-trips to taste the local vines wherever we are. We've done Missouri (pretty good sweet/dessert wines), Texas (definitely up-and-coming) and even Arkansas (not much to say there).

You might know Geja's Cafe (on Armitage just east of Clark) for being voted one of Chicago's most romantic restaurants, and it certainly fits that bill.

But another important attribute is its extensive and well-chosen wine list, as well as its wine-themed decor. Note the bottles that line the partitions between booths. (Please excuse the color ... it was the red "mood lighting." See? Romantic.)

For those into adding a spatial dimension to a story, I've created a custom Google map that contains all the points highlighted so far on the blog along with links back to the relevant images on the Citizen.

Enjoy this other way to get into the Bensenville story.

Bensenville's Acquisition Area also includes several businesses in addition to the more than 500 homes that have been bought up by the City of Chicago.  Most of these businesses are along Irving Park Road and they're just as boarded-up as the homes are.  Let's take a look:

All photos by Jing Zhou.

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